Skip to content
Youth Speaks Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Youth Speaks Inc

Youth speaks creates safe spaces to empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacies.

$1.0M
Granted FY2017
20
Grants FY2017
13
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01FY2017 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 20 grants below total $773,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,008,127 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $235,127 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k2 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $266k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $493k
$30,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$6.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Urban Word NYC$100,000
Young Chicago Authors$100,000
Words Beats and Life Inc$75,000
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks$60,000
Inside Out Literary Arts Project$55,000
Writers in the Schools$52,500
Southern Word Inc$50,000
Get Lit - Words Unite$40,000
First Peoples Fund$37,500
MassLEAP Collective$30,000
Kuumba Lynx$25,000
Philadelphia Youth Poetry$25,000
Forward Arts Inc$25,000
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts$24,000
Campo Santo$24,000
02The need
02

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–17) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Southwest Institute for Learning Inc: $8k → 15%MassLEAP Collective: $30k → 8%Philadelphia Youth Poetry: $25k → 22%Movimento de Arte y Cultura Latino: $15k → 8%Ryse Inc: $8k → 9%Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: $24k → 10%With Our Words Inc: $10k → 12%Get Lit - Words Unite: $40k → 14%Sacramento Area Youth Speaks: $60k → 16%Urban Word NYC: $100k → 17%Writers in the Schools: $53k → 16%Words Beats and Life Inc: $75k → 14%Inside Out Literary Arts Project: $55k → 21%Southern Word Inc: $50k → 14%Kuumba Lynx: $25k → 14%Teens With a Purpose: $10k → 9%First Peoples Fund: $38k → 14%Forward Arts Inc: $25k → 19%Campo Santo: $24k → 10%Young Chicago Authors: $100k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
NY
MA
SD
PA
CA
VA
AZ
TN
DC
LA
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Black Literacy and Arts Collaborative Project
—
2
Youth Speaks Inc

Youth speaks creates safe spaces to empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacies. we challenge youth to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as…

Youth Development
3
Literary Freedom Project Inc

The Literary Freedom Project creates free, open spaces for communities to engage with books through weekly discussions and presentations. Our programs promote literacy, celebrate the diverse cultures of the Bronx and NYC, and foster…

Arts & Culture
4
Juxtaposition Arts Inc

Juxtaposition arts (jxta) is a visual art and design organization, rooted in north minneapolis for over 30 years. we expand access to creative education and career pathways by engaging emerging artisits in rigorous traning, mentorship and…

Youth Development
5
Understory Arts

Understory arts was created to equip storytellers from all walks of life, especially from diverse backgrounds, with the tools, training, and resources they need to tell powerful and important stories.

Arts & Culture
6
The Diatribe Inc

The diatribe uses restorative art to disrupt historical systems of oppression by reimagining education, holistically honoring the community by creating an unapologetic vision for liberation that is accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
7
Connecting Through the Arts and Edu
—
8
United Artist Collaborative
Arts & Culture
9
World Collaborative for Transformative Community Wctc

WCTC work to help solve the problems of the 21st Century for the benefit of local communities utilizing transformative network methods. We work with educational writing and poetry programs, as well as BIPOC and people of color initiatives.

Community Improvement
10
Young Playwrights Theater

Young Playwrights Theater (YPT) is committed to using theater & writing to foster dialogue, arts education, literacy & conflict resolution in communities.

Arts & Culture
11
Seattle Arts and Lectures

Seattle arts and lectures cultivates transformative experiences through story and language with readers and writers of all generations.

Arts & Culture
12
Youth in Arts

Youth in Arts builds visual and performing arts skills through innovative and in-depth programs that foster confidence, compassion and resilience in students of all abilities. We develop capacity among educators and teaching artists,…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Urban Word Nyc Inc; the most unlike its peers is Urban Affairs Coalition. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

17 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 17 of the 20 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS: $100,000 · Arts & CultureYOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORSWords Beats and Life Inc: $75,000 · Arts & CultureWords Beats and Life IncINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT: $55,000 · Arts & CultureINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECTGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC: $40,000 · Arts & CultureGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INCFIRST PEOPLES FUND: $37,500 · Arts & CultureFIRST PEOPLES FUNDMASSPOETRY INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureMASSPOETRY INCKUUMBA LYNX: $25,000 · Arts & CultureKUUMBA LYNXIntersection for the Arts: $24,000 · Arts & CultureIntersection for the ArtsYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $24,000 · Arts & CultureYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTSMOVIMIENTO DE ARTE Y CULTURA LATINO AMERICANA DE SAN JOSE INCORPORATED: $15,000 · Arts & CultureURBAN WORD NYC INC: $100,000 · EducationURBAN WORD NYC INCWriters in the Schools: $52,500 · EducationWriters in the SchoolsUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS: $60,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALI…Forward Arts Inc: $25,000 · OtherForward Arts IncURBAN AFFAIRS COALITION: $25,000 · OtherURBAN AFFAIRS COAL…WITH OUR WORDS: $10,000 · OtherWITH OUR WORDSSouthwest Institute for Learning Inc: $7,500 · OtherSouthwest Institut…SOUTHERN WORD INC: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentSOUTHERN …TWP-THE YOUTH MOVEMENT: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentTWP-THE Y…RYSE INC: $7,500 · Youth DevelopmentRYSE INC
Arts & Culture$425,500Education$152,500Other$127,500Youth Development$67,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetYOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS: $100,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetURBAN WORD NYC INC: $100,000 over 1y, 9.5% of budgetWords Beats and Life Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT: $55,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetWriters in the Schools: $52,500 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSOUTHERN WORD INC: $50,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC: $40,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetFIRST PEOPLES FUND: $37,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMASSPOETRY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetForward Arts Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetURBAN AFFAIRS COALITION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIntersection for the Arts: $24,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $24,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMOVIMIENTO DE ARTE Y CULTURA LATINO AMERICANA DE SAN JOSE INCORPORATED: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTWP-THE YOUTH MOVEMENT: $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetRYSE INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Poetry FoundationThe Academy of Americ…Surdna Foundation IncThe Ford FoundationTides FoundationNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Poetry FoundationIL21.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Poetry Foundation · The Academy of American Poets Inc · Surdna Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · Tides Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Youth Speaks Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Youth Speaks Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 20 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2017, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Youth Speaks’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home